Building tradespersons, such as, carpenters, electricians, cabinet installers, and the like, are often faced with the problem of locating the position of wall studs, including but not limited to metal, wood, and plastic studs, metal objects, wooden objects, heat signatures, electrical wiring, plumbing, and other imbedded or hidden gases, liquids, or solids, behind a surface such as, for example, the installed sheetrock or wallboard forming the wall surface. For example, such walls are usually formed of the wall studs positioned on about 16 inch centers to which are nailed such wall materials as sheetrock or plywood of various thicknesses ranging from about ⅛ inch to about ¾ inch. After the finishing and painting of the wall, the nails, stud positions, electrical wiring, plumbing and piping, and other imbedded or hidden gases, liquids, and solids, are not visually detectable.
For example, in the case of wall studs, at the present time, a generally used method to locate the position of wall studs includes utilizing a stud finder consisting primarily of a magnet supported in a manner to pivot in the presence of a magnetic material. This finder is moved along the wall surface until it aligns with the head of a nail holding the wallboard on the stud, but relies for its accuracy in locating wood studs on whether or not the person who placed the nail, actually placed it in the center of the stud. This form of stud finder may be housed in a casing and used as a portable sensor.
An additional method to locate the position of wall studs includes utilizing a portable sensor for locating a wall stud positioned behind a wall surface by movement of the sensor along the wall surface comprising in combination, a capacitor plate mounted in the surface closest to the wall surface, a circuit for detecting any change in the capacitance of the capacitor plate due to a change in the dielectric constant of the wall caused by the location of a stud positioned behind the wall surface and immediately adjacent the capacitor, and means for indicating the change in capacitance of the capacitor plate, thereby indicating the wall stud position. This method and apparatus is fully described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,118 (Robert C. Franklin, et al.), and is incorporated fully herein by reference.
Thus it can be seen that the above described attempts to locate the wall studs relied upon hand-held devices. This severely limited the use of the stud-sensor to the height and/or arm length of the user. Further, if a user wanted to determine the position of studs beyond his/her physical abilities, such as, for example, a high wall or the ceiling, he/she would have to use a chair or ladder or other device to increase the area of usage. Still further, if a user wanted to determine the position of studs close to the floor or on the floor, he/she would have to get on his/her hands and knees to scan the wall or the floor. Both of the previously above described methods are tedious, time-consuming, and potentially dangerous.
Furthermore, previous attempts to detect the actual location of a solid structural member or a system component for delivering a liquid or gas, electricity or communication signals, positioned or imbedded behind a wall surface, such as, for example, studs, metal objects, heat signatures, electrical wiring, plumbing, and other imbedded or hidden components for transporting/delivering gases, liquids, and/or solids would require the user, once those delivery components or objects are detected by the surface tool, to physically mark the position on the wall with an “X” by hand using a marking instrument such as a pencil or pen. Both hands of the user are occupied as they have to hold a stud sensor in one hand and a marking instrument in the other. This two-hands approach can lead to inaccuracy, is tedious, time-consuming, and potentially dangerous.
This invention improves on the deficiencies of the prior art and provides an inventive system, method, and apparatus, for a handle attachment.